Seven months after the 2008 coup d'etat in Mauritania, the European Commission cooperation program with the African country has yet to resume.
Geza Strammer, Chargé d'Affaires of the EC delegation in Mauritania, told Devex that operations for existing contracts are still ongoing but all of the new projects are on hold. The delegation has no information yet on when the cooperation program will recommence, he said.
The commission has committed 156 million euros for the 2008-2013 country strategy. The funding is supposed to support projects in infrastructure, governance, transport, regional integration and migration management.
Mauritania is no stranger to government overthrows. The country has had 10 coup attempts since its independence in 1960. Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, the ousted president in last year's military takeover, was the country's first democratically elected leader.
